Registering a client

You register a new client with the New Client wizard. The wizard walks you through the client's details one step at a time. When you finish, you review the record and activate it. See Reviewing and activating a client.

Before you start

Make sure the client's group already exists. You must choose a group on the first step. To create one, see Groups.

Open the wizard

1. In the sidebar, under CRM, click Clients.
2. Click Add Client.

The New Client page opens. On a computer, the steps are listed down the left side. On a phone or small screen, a progress bar at the top shows "Step 1 of N".

Moving through the wizard

• Next checks the fields on the current step and moves on. If something is wrong, the field turns red with a message and you stay on that step.
• Back returns to the previous step. On the first step, the button reads Cancel and takes you back to the client list without saving.
• You can click any step name in the left-hand list to jump straight to it.
• Save as Draft saves what you have entered so far. See Saving a draft.
• On the last step, Proceed to Review saves the record and opens the review page.

Which steps and fields you see depends on your organisation's settings. Some fields can be hidden, and some can be made required. A required field has a * after its label. The steps, in order, are Group, Personal Info, Contact, Identity & KYC, Next of Kin, Business and Guarantors. Next of Kin and Business are left out when none of their fields are switched on.

Group

Choose the group the client will join.

• Group *: start typing a group name, then pick the group from the list. This is required.

If your organisation has only one active group, you will not need to choose. The step shows "Auto-assigning to group: group name" and the client is placed in that group.

Personal Info

Field	Notes
First Name *	Required. Up to 100 characters.
Other Names	Optional.
Last Name *	Required. Up to 100 characters.
Father's Name	Shown, and possibly required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Spouse's Name	Shown, and possibly required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Date of Birth	Optional. Pick from the calendar.
Gender	Not specified, Male, Female or Other.
Marital Status	Single, Married, Divorced or Widowed. Shown, and possibly required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Education Level	None, Primary School, Secondary School or Tertiary. Shown, and possibly required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Occupation	Optional.

Contact

Field	Notes
Phone	Must be 7 to 20 characters long, using digits, spaces and hyphens, with an optional + at the start. Each phone number can belong to only one client in your organisation.
Email	Optional. Must be a valid email address if entered.
Residential Address, Permanent Address, Business Address	Each address section is shown depending on your organisation's settings. Each one has Street Address, Line 2 (Apt, Suite, etc.), City / Town, a district field, a province field, Postal Code and Country. Your organisation may use its own names for the district and province fields, such as "LGA" or "State". All address fields are optional.

Phone label

The Phone field is labelled Phone *, but the wizard lets you continue without a phone number. Your organisation may still expect one.

If you enter a phone number that already belongs to another client, the wizard returns you to this step when you save and shows a message such as "This phone number is already registered to Thabo Mokoena (CL-3F9A21B7). Enter a different phone number." Check whether the person is already registered before you create a second record.

Identity & KYC

This step collects the client's documents. Across the top, a row of badges shows each KYC document category your organisation requires, such as Identity Document, Photographs or Proof of Residence. A badge turns green once a document of that category has been added.

Identity Documents

1. In ID Type, choose the kind of ID, for example National ID or International Passport.
2. Optionally enter the ID number in Reference Number.
3. Click Upload ID and choose the file (PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC or DOCX).

The document appears in a list above the fields. To remove it before saving, click the bin icon.

Client's Photograph

Click Upload Photograph and choose a JPG or PNG image. Until a photograph is added, the step shows "No photograph uploaded yet."

Other Documents

1. Choose a Document Type, for example a proof of residence.
2. Click Upload and choose one or more files (PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC or DOCX).

The ID type and reference number you upload are copied onto the client's record, so they show as the client's identity document on the review page and the client's Details tab.

Files are uploaded when you click Proceed to Review

The documents you add here are held on screen until you click Proceed to Review. Save as Draft does not upload them. If you save a draft and leave the page, add the documents again when you continue the draft, or upload them later from the client's Documents tab. See Client documents.

Next of Kin

This step appears only if your organisation collects next-of-kin details.

Field	Notes
Name	May be required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Phone	May be required, depending on your organisation's settings.
Relationship	Optional.
Address	Optional.

Business

This step appears only if your organisation collects business and financial details. Each field below is shown depending on your organisation's settings.

Field	Notes
Type of Business	May be required.
Years in Business	A whole number, 0 or more.
Average Monthly Income	0 or more.
Opening savings deposit (₦)	0 or more. The cash the client hands over today, or the balance carried over from a paper passbook. See Opening savings deposit.
Indebted to any MFB / MFI?	Tick if the client owes another lender. Two more fields then appear: Institution Name and Outstanding Amount (₦).
Family member registered with this Group?	Tick if a relative is already in the group. Family Member Name then appears.
Registered in another existing ASAL Centre Group?	Tick if the client is already in another group.

Opening savings deposit

The opening savings deposit is a real deposit into the client's savings account. It is not just a note on the profile.

• It is credited when the client is activated, not when you save the draft.
• It is the starting savings balance the platform checks when the client later applies for a loan.
• You can enter it only when registering. After registration, use the client's Savings tab to record deposits and withdrawals. See Savings.

Guarantors

This step appears only when you register a new client.

1. Click Add Guarantor.
2. Fill in the New Guarantor form:
   • Full Name * (required)
   • Relationship to Borrower
   • Phone
   • Occupation
   • Home Address and Office Address, each with Street Address, City, District, Province and Country
3. Click Add Guarantor to add them to the list, or Cancel to discard.

Repeat for each guarantor. To remove a guarantor from the list, click the bin icon next to them. You can skip this step and add guarantors later from the client's Guarantors tab.

note

Guarantors are saved the first time the record is saved, whether you click Save as Draft or Proceed to Review. If you have already saved a draft, add any further guarantors from the client's Guarantors tab after activation.

Proceed to Review

On the last step, click Proceed to Review. The platform then:

1. Checks every step. If anything is missing or invalid, it opens the step that needs fixing and shows a red banner, for example "Please fix the errors in "Personal Info" before submitting."
2. Saves the client as a Draft and gives them a client number.
3. Uploads the documents you added and saves the guarantors.
4. Opens the Review Client page.

The client is not active yet. To finish, follow Reviewing and activating a client.

Saving a draft

Click Save as Draft at any step to save your progress. You see "Draft saved." when it works.

• A draft needs at least a group, a first name and a last name. If one is missing, the save fails with a message.
• The draft remembers which step you were on.
• The draft is given a client number, and it appears in the client list with the status DRAFT.

To continue a draft:

1. Go to Clients and find the client. Drafts show the status DRAFT.
2. Click the Edit icon on the client's row. Or open the client and click the Continue draft (pencil) icon.
3. The Continue Draft page opens at the step you saved on. Finish the remaining steps and click Proceed to Review.